Winter-like Start to Spring

February’s frigid temperatures spilled over into March.

Despite being two weeks into meteorological spring, the winter chill has not loosened its grip on the Northeast. The 35 airport limate sites were colder than normal, with 21 of them ranking the period among their top 20 coldest. Caribou, ME, was the coldest site at 10 degrees below normal.

Precipitation has been lacking for much of the region so far this March.

Thirty-four sites have been drier than normal during the first half of March. In fact, Kennedy Airport, NY, and Newark, NJ, have had their driest start to March on record at 12 percent of normal precipitation and 14 percent of normal, respectively. Snowfall, however, was nearly split, with departures ranging from -7.9 inches in Binghamton, NY, to +14.4 inches in Burlington, VT.